Thursday, August 23, 2007

Bread and Marmalade Pudding

Bread and Butter Pudding has got to be one of the more satisfying desserts you can make. Not only does it make use of something we might throw away, it uses ingredients that we probably have sitting in the pantry and fridge. It's also incredibly simple and quick to make.

Slice the crusts from the bread slices - butter one side only of the bread and then coat each with a little marmalade.

Arrange the bread unbuttered side down into a baking dish - you should have enough bread to form two layers. Don't try to make a uniform arrangement of the slices, a patchwork type pattern is best.

In a bowl, add the eggs, cream, milk and caster sugar and lightly whisk until just combined. Pour this over the bread, making sure all the bread is coated by the liquid. Let this sit for 15 minutes to make sure that the bread has fully absorbed the liquid.

Sprinkle generously with Demerara sugar (this caramelises as the pudding cooks to give a nice crunch to the top) and then bake in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven for about 45 - 60 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

It will puff quite a lot, a bit like a soufflé but it will deflate once out of the oven - make sure your baking dish is deep enough to contain this expansion.

Hi Sra - the whole idea of bread & butter pudding to me is that it's not a fussy dessert, it's not something where you would like up the slices of bread to match evenly, it's meant to be rustic. I just find that it sits better when the joins of the lower level are covered by full slices of bread.